You can buy couche material by the yard at SFBI http://www.sfbi.com/linen_canvas_couche.html. It's probably not as cheap as you are used to, but still reasonable. Bannetons are another matter. They tend to be expensive here in the U.S. I have bought them from here and here.

I have not found baker's linen for less than from SFBI. If you are opening a bakery, a relationship with TMB, the bakery supply arm of SFBI would be good to establish. They have a very comprehensive catalogue, only a fraction of which is on their web site.

I was under the impression that couche material was simply a finely-woven heavy-weight linen that ultimately became well-floured through use. Wouldn't it be possible to purchase the appropriate weight material from a fabric supplier and cut it into managable pieces? One trip through the wash would remove any sizing or finishing that had been applied, you'd be able to custom-cut the fabric to your specific wishes, and it would be a whole lot cheaper. Perhaps I'm mistaken about the fabric and would appreciate being told the difference.

about the fabric - but perhaps not so current on the availability and pricing of said material. The price offered by TMB baking is way better than you would find at most retail fabric outlets - IF you could find suitable material at all.

If you wash linen to remove finishing, you are then also stuck with the task of ironing it - if you want a smooth "like new" surface. Some bakers feel very strongly that they don't want to do all that ironing and must have that smooth surface. So perhaps better to buy the right tool for the job.

If one is in a very large urban area you may be able to find what we regard as couche linen in different widths at a good enough price to make it worth you while. I have spent many a happy hour doing fabric shopping and really have found nothing better at the price than going with TMB.

I'm a new member, who has been reading TFL for several weeks. Today I saw a question I could answer on the "professional" side, so I registered to do so. It was to no avail as it ended up telling me I didn't have access to the page. In case someone reading this does, I was trying to reply to the person looking for where to buy material for couches for a new bakery at reasonable prices. If someone would like to relay the information to the original poster: This site has a number of options in materials, i.e., untreated linen, treated linens and even a synthetic fabric that doesn't require ironing after washing: http://www.meilleurduchef.com/cgi/mdc/l/fr/boutique/produits/toile_couche/index.html .

The prices don't look bad and, if outside Europe, you get to subtract the 19.6% tax. I have no idea of shipping charges...

I was lucky in that my mother-in-law was a seamstress and cook and when she passed there were yards of usable material here at the house. As for baskets I buy plastic woven baskets in different sizes from the Filipino Market near my house for anywhere between 69 cents to $1.50 ea depending on the size and they work just fine.

Bannenton: My best option for cane bannentons turned out to be ordering direct from the manufacturer in germany. Even with the 36 euro shipping cost, the final price hard to beat, somewhere around $14 per basket. http://brotformen.de/

Scores - San Fransisco Baking Institute offers a box of 250 blades and a variety of handles. In a bind, I also found the single edge shaving blades at CVS to work fine when I was in a bind. http://www.sfbi.com/blades.html

I appreciate all the responses this thread has received, thanks for the help everyone!

I own a company that makes specialty wooden lames. You can see photos of them on my amazon shop here: Black Walnut Lame or here at: Bamboo Lame

I designed these lames to be unique. The others available on the market did not appeal to the artistic nature of bread baking. These are also designed to receive any type of flat razor blade. This means you can even use triangular or square ex-acto blades if regular double edged lame razors are unavailable.

These lames feature brass thumbnuts for quick and easy razor replacement and to ensure a firm blade grip. They are available in several wood varieties including, black walnut, maple, brazilian beech, and white oak.

We also have large medium weight couches 22"x60" and small 20" square proofing cloths, and we will have them listed soon in heavyweight linen. They will be viewable in our shop here: www.amazon.com/shops/primalkitchen

If you have further questions, or would like prices for bulk orders please let me know.

All original site content copyright 2015 The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise. Content posted by community members is their own. The Fresh Loaf is not responsible for community member content. If you see anything inappropriate on the site or have any questions, contact me at floydm at thefreshloaf dot com. This site is powered by Drupal and Mollom. It is part of the Federated Media Publishing - Food channel. Click here for advertising information.